.s. troop surge in iraq, which you may recall, hagel had called, in his words, the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since vietnam, he asked whether that surge had ultimately been successful. >> the question is, were you right or wrong? that's a pretty straightforward question. i would like to answer whether you were right or wrong, and then you are free to elaborate. >> well, i'm not going to give you a yes or no answer on a lot of things. >> let the record show that you refuse to answer that question. now, please go ahead. >> well, if you would like me to explain why -- >> no, i actually would like an answer. yes or no. >> well, i'm not going to give you a yes or no. >> another hot topic at the hearing today, it was a 2006 interview that hagel gave to former middle east peace negotiator, erin david miller. now, in that interview, hagel said this. "the jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here." now, today of that comment about the "jewish lobby," hagel said categorically, i regret it. >> i've already said i regret referencing the jewish lobby. i should have sa
